Abstract
Likeability was examined as an attribute of aggression and withdrawal and as a separate dimension of children's peer relations to determine its influence on psychiatric status in maturity. The sample consisted of 145 men and 177 women who had been assessed with a peer sociometric on the dimensions of aggression, withdrawal, and likeability during childhood, assessed for life stresses and positive resources in early adulthood, and evaluated for psychiatric status at age 35. The results indicated that (1) likeability was separate from aggression, but a moderating attribute of withdrawal as a protective source of influence on psychiatric status in maturity; (2) life stresses particularly in the men increased, and positive resources particularly in the women, reduced psychiatric vulnerability; and (3) men who had been the more aggressive and the better-liked among their childhood peers remained at psychiatric risk when stress and personal resources were taken into account.